ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 16.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 347 16.2 Community-Based Internet GIS ........................................................... 349 16.3 System Architecture of CIGIS............................................................... 351 16.4 Stages of CIGIS........................................................................................ 354 16.5 Shibuya Community-Based Internet GIS............................................ 358 16.6 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 361 References ........................................................................................................... 362
The importance of broadening community participation in environmental decision-making is widely recognized and lack of participation in this process appears to be a perennial problem. In this context, there have been calls from some academics for the more extensive use of geographical information systems (GIS) and distance learning technologies, accessible via the Internet, as a possible means to inform and empower communities. However, a number of problems exist. For instance, at present the scope for online interaction between policy makers and citizens is currently limited. Contemporary Web-based environmental information systems suffer from this lack of interactivity on the one hand and on the other hand from the apparent complexity for the lay users. This chapter explores the issue of online community participation at the local level and attempts to construct a framework for a new (and potentially more effective) model of online participatory decision-making. The key components, system architecture, and stages of such a model are introduced. This model, referred to as a Community-based Internet GIS (CIGIS), incorporates advanced information
technologies, distance learning, and community involvement tools, which is applied and evaluated in the field through a pilot project in Tokyo in 2002. With the advent of ever cheaper computers and more user-friendly soft-
ware and the progressive increase in environment related data collected through various monitoring and remote sensing programs, the need to handle, store, analyze, and present data has gained increased significance. Today, it is virtually impossible to think about environmental research without relying heavily on information and communication technologies (ICTs). These ICTs affect almost every aspect of the environmental debate, such as, research, monitoring, management, and, ultimately, decisionmaking and public involvement. Decision-making on environmental issues is highly complex, involving
semistructured and unstructured problems, large amounts of diverse data, and the need for the application of human-value judgments. ICTs provide a means of integrating data and models into a form that is readily understood by the participants in the decision-making process. In order to achieve this objective, however, online decision support systems need to be interactive and promote knowledge sharing and exchange. Ideally, if carefully designed and implemented, online decision support systems can play an important role in promoting a more extensive discourse between experts, decision-makers, and the public, than currently exists. It is possible to argue that the development of environmental information
systems is closely connected to the increase in environmental awareness over the last three decades (Evans, 1999; Haklay, 1999). Furthermore, GIS have come to be viewed as an effective technology to aid decision-making, and they have revolutionized the way that spatial data is generated, stored, analyzed, and disseminated. This information helps people to manage what they know, by making it easy to organize, manipulate, and apply the data to solve real problems (Longley et al., 2001). This same technology, however, is of little use, if it is only available to those with technical expertise or the relevant software. Access to GIS, therefore, is a vital component of any online decision-making system. Likewise, the Internet is a powerful medium in the move to further open
up information to public scrutiny. It will function as the next generation GIS platform supporting information distribution and Web-based decision support systems. Information and analysis supported by Web-based GIS with various multimedia can potentially broaden the user base for this technology. As stated by numerous scholars (e.g., Doyle et al., 1998; Brown, 1999), recent advancements in the field of Web-based GIS have created new challenges, many of which are technical (e.g., bandwidth, Internet connection speed; development of multilevel systems to enable full access by different users; limitations of the Internet regarding multimedia; and ease of interaction) and social (e.g., technophobia; danger of creating an information underclass; lack of commercial and political will; antipathy and apathy; and lack of understanding surrounding public and personal use of the Internet). Nevertheless, the future evolution to Web-based GIS is seen as
a critical component in the development of online participatory systems, which allow the visualizing and modeling of the environment in a networked virtual reality environment (Carver et al., 1995; Faust, 1995; Marmie, 1995; Shiffer, 1995; Beardsley and Quinn, 1996; Batty et al., 1998a,b; Yigitcanlar and Sakauchi, 2002). Rapid progress with the development of the Internet has brought the
possibility of computer-assisted environmental and urban planning over networks (Plewe, 1997; Okabe et al., 1998; Yigitcanlar, 2002b; Peng and Tsou, 2003). In particular, the possibility of creating three-dimensional virtual environments provides the potential to develop an intuitively comprehensive solution to both the process and the output of urban and environmental planning (Yigitcanlar, 2002a; Carver, 2003). It may also enhance increased citizen participation whereby users can share virtual space to develop, present, and discuss their ideas and concerns. In this context, this chapter presents the framework for the development
of an online participatory system that links the urban and environmental decision-making processes to environmental education and increased awareness. In the following sections, several key components of the interactive model (CIGIS) are introduced including a description of the system architecture, an outline of the key stages of the model, and its application in the pilot project.
